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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27083275">Metal and flesh</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHorizon94/pseuds/LadyHorizon94'>LadyHorizon94</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Halloween, Horror, Keith-Centric, bodyhorror, keith - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 02:14:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,048</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27083275</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHorizon94/pseuds/LadyHorizon94</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A short horror story of Keith entering wormhole and discovering disturbing alternative outcome for him </p>
<p> </p>
<p>For Halloween 2020</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Metal and flesh</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy Halloween! This idea has been in my head for a while but only got the time and mental health to do this now. This is short and rushed but I hope you still like it! Might be slight Ooc</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The wormhole had appeared far too quickly and it was far too sudden for Keith to avoid it in the midst of battle with Lotor and his grew. He could feel Black struggle as it tried to pull away from the suction. He could feel the gravity shifting and it was as if an invisible hand was pressing him against the chair. Keith gritted his teeth and tried to help black by pulling the levers and trying to press the buttons. He gritted his teeth as sweat was dropping from his face. “C’mon, c’mon,” He muttered.</p>
<p>There was no response. Not until the red light started to blink and he could hear the siren, warning him of system faults. Keith cursed and tried to look around to find something – anything – that could help them both.</p>
<p>It was no use.</p>
<p>A white light blinded him as he went through it. The pressure on his body got heavier and heavier. The young man was glued to his seat. His arms were like stone when he tried to move them to unbuckle himself. It rose slowly and painfully. He grunted as he reached for the belt. The sweat under his clothes made his skin feel hot and sticky. Everything was heavy, hot and uncomfortable –</p>
<p>Then, it was over. There was a sudden lightness and Keith jumped uncontrollably from his seat and his head fell back on the chair. He could feel Black land with a heavy crash and Keith prayed in his mind the lion was okay.</p>
<p>After everything stopped Keith took a moment to calm his nerves. He took a few breaths and waited for the adrenaline to fade and the drumming of his heart to cease. As they finally did, he sighed and looked outside of his cockpit.</p>
<p>The landscape was dominated by purple mist that seemed to stay eerily still. There wasn’t any hint of a wind. The ground looked bare and was the same purple hue. Absolutely nothing grew from it and it was full of cracks.</p>
<p>Keith waited for a moment. By the looks of it, there wasn’t any life forms, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. He was little embarrassed to admit all the times he had been fooled by empty looking planet, only to find something absurd and weird to inhabit it.</p>
<p>Something felt… off however. Keith had a feeling like he was completely unwelcomed. <em>It’s the color… </em>Was this another colony ruled by galra? Worse yet, had they already took all the resources and left?</p>
<p>If it <em>had </em>something to do with galra, then he definitely should go out there and see it for himself – even if rest of the group wouldn’t appreciate it. As much as they loved to preach teamwork and the dangers of doing things alone, sometimes there were no other options.</p>
<p>So he unbuckled himself, put on his helmet and head out.</p>
<p>Even through his gear, Keith could feel the thickness of unmoving air. It wasn’t like on most of the planets on a serene day. The air was like a wall and it was almost as if it tried to push Keith back. As he walked, he could feel the gravity pulling him down. The mist was getting thicker too, as if it was sensing Keith and wanted to blind him or lost him.</p>
<p>It felt alive and dead at the same time.</p>
<p>Keith wasn’t like Lance, who would have most likely start to run around or shout or something of that nature. He stayed near Black, hand on his bayard, only seconds away from drawing it even from the slightest movements –</p>
<p>Something glowed amongst the mist. With a blink of an eye, Keith pointed his bayard at it, ready for defending himself from whatever was coming to him.</p>
<p>There was a shape of something much taller than him. Whatever it was, didn’t move and when Keith squinted his eyes to see better, he could make out an outline of a lion.</p>
<p>For a moment he forgot the weight around him as he started to move faster towards his teammate. So he wasn’t only one after all, there was at least someone else. Tension left Keith’s body as this would be much easier –</p>
<p>It was Red lion. <em>Of course it had to be Lance. </em>He could already hear all the possible complains of how this all was his fault, and how he should be grateful since <em>Lance </em>was there. He sighed. He could ignore Lance some of the time, but sometimes his frustrations just overflew. He didn’t understand why the other paladin disliked him. He hadn’t even known Lance had existed until they saved Shiro together.</p>
<p>Keith’s mixed emotions stopped as he noticed the condition of his previous lion. It was full of cracks and dirt. Chips decorated the surface everywhere and the vibrant colors where oddly faded like Red had been standing there for years.</p>
<p>At first Keith felt confusion. Then anger from the fact that Lance had ruined Red <em>this </em>badly. Finally fear entered him, as he then realized what it would mean for the red paladin if the lion was <em>this badly – </em></p>
<p>“Lance!” He shouted as he disposed of the bayard and started to climb the lion horror clenching his throat tight. “Hang on! I’ll get you out of there!”</p>
<p>There was no answer. Chilling silence was only thing filling Keith’s ears and it made his stomach sink. <em>His unconscious, has to be – </em></p>
<p>Intrusive images of Lance’s mangled body pushed themselves on his mind and he stubbornly tried to chase them out. Now was not the time for panicking, it was time for action.</p>
<p>The lion was cold to the touch. Too cold. Keith couldn’t sense any resembles of familiar warm presence of something bigger as normally when he was near any lion. It made his heart race faster. This had never happened when one of the paladins got hurt before.</p>
<p>When he was almost at the cockpit, the warmth suddenly turned back under his palm. The lion moved under Keith and before the Paladin could feel anything remotely similar to relief, the Red lion swayed him to the ground. The breath escaped his lungs before he got himself back up.</p>
<p>The lion was very much alive now. Her empty eyes were now glowing yellow and she was pointing canons at him. It had to be a joke.</p>
<p>“Very funny, Lance! Now knock it off!” He yelled letting his tone know just how annoyed he was at this whole farce. This wasn’t the first time Lance had fooled around like this. Of course, lions would never hurt another paladin on purpose –</p>
<p>Red fired the canons.</p>
<p>Keith was so stunned he got barely out of the way. He didn’t have anytime for shock as he had to dodge a giant paw that tried to hit him. “Lance?!” There was no response. The lion didn’t stop either. She was ready to jump and attack again.</p>
<p>Keith started running while running different options through his head. The lion could be captured, maybe somehow, the galra got hold of her and managed to took control. It would explain why Red was in such a condition. The planet might have some kind of toxin in the air, making the paladin more aggressive and lash out. <em>Shouldn’t I be then affected too? </em></p>
<p>Besides, Keith had seen Red not even that long ago. Her surface had been shining and her flying precise as ever. There was no way she would have been that badly injured so fast.</p>
<p>He saw black and started to sprint towards it. He was vulnerable as long as long as he was –</p>
<p>Something jumped in front of him. Something big.</p>
<p>A black lion. But similarly full with chips and scratches.</p>
<p><em>These aren’t our lions. </em>It wasn’t hard to figure out what was going on. He recalled Allura’s tale of alternative realities. The experience obviously had rattled her quite a bit.</p>
<p>He needed to get out of here and fast.</p>
<p>He could see other lions emerge from the mist and he cursed under his breath. Yellow was getting ready to attack and red was already about to shoot with her cannons. Keith couldn’t even make up his mind, which way to dodge, when he was lift up by fake (?) Black’s paw as he tossed the boy in the air.</p>
<p>The paladin yelled and took his knife out. The painful screeching sound filled his ears as he struck his knife to the black metal to slow down his fall. Keith had only one option. He couldn’t make it to his black, but maybe he could take over this one and got to his own lion safely.</p>
<p>It was a gamble. If this was an alternative reality, he might not be able to pilot Black. Or any lion for that matter. But there was no time to think anything else. So once again, he started to climb as fast as he could towards the cockpit. Black shook and swayed under him. His grip almost slipped few times and he could feel his muscles complain with pain as he forces them to work.</p>
<p>He managed to pry the cockpit open with his sweaty hands and slip in.</p>
<p>The air was thick and unmoving. Even more so than outside. The screen was on and it was glowing with purple hue. Instead of normal commands Keith had gotten used to seeing. The screen was just showing statistic and blurry gibberish.</p>
<p>Keith looked at it for a moment, until he spotted a figure sitting on the chair. He lifted his bayard ready. The figure didn’t move. He should have noticed Keith by now just by him entering. The boy hesitated for a moment “Hey you! Why did you attack me?!”</p>
<p>Nothing. The figure was completely motionless.</p>
<p>Keith marched to it getting ready to attack or run.</p>
<p>Still, it didn’t move. Keith could see little bit of the sleeve and he recognized the red uniform right away. His neck tingled and his heart start to race. Sudden, cold feeling started to spread in his body and part of him wanted to get out of there.</p>
<p>His body kept moving however.</p>
<p>Keith got by the chair.</p>
<p>He dropped his bayard and flinched backwards, taking support from the cockpit.</p>
<p>He was sitting on the chair. Or… <em>Something </em>distantly like him.</p>
<p>His eyes were glowing yellow and his skin was dried up and tinted with pale purple. His form was thin and his cheek had sunk. As Keith kept looking at this… twisted version of himself, he noticed the legs and arms had melted into the metal and it was impossible to determine, where the limbs started and where they ended. They were pulsating rhythmically as if sucking something from the lion.</p>
<p>This twisted version of him turned to look at him. Those glowing eyes didn’t hold any thoughts or feelings. They were completely empty.</p>
<p>Keith could only see himself being reflected from them –</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Keith? Keith?!”</p>
<p>He blinked and saw Shiro’s concerned and confused eyes looking at him. The rest of the paladin’s were staring at him too. It took moment for him to collect his shattered thoughts back together.</p>
<p>That’s right… Somehow he made it back. After seeing… that thing, he had heard his own Black roar, calling him nearby. He had climbed out of there. Black had been there waiting, coming for him responding to his shock and horror. He had managed to climb back and they had flown away as fast as they could. The wormhole had been still there.</p>
<p>“What happened, Keith?” Shiro asked gently. He put his hand on Keith’s shoulder.</p>
<p>Had the rest of them being like that back there? Merged with their lions without mind of their own, standing still on empty planet, waiting for a prey –</p>
<p>Was that an alternative reality or… Future?</p>
<p>An intrusive picture of Shiro’s prosthetic melting with his flesh filled his head. His skin crawled and the taste of his stomach fluids filled his mouth. Keith brushed the hand off of him. “I am fine!” He pushed Pidge out of his way and marched to his room. As soon as he closed the door behind him, Keith ran to the bathroom and emptied his stomach.</p>
<p>He wasn’t sure if he could enter Black for a while.</p>
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